76 HOME LIFE ON AN OSTRICH FARM. 



it as a sanatorium. This could be done without the 

 expenditure of any very large amount of capital, as 

 land can be rented from Government at the rate of a 

 very moderate sum per annum. It would be necessary 

 to choose a farm possessing a good fountain ; thus a 

 constant supply of vegetables could be kept up, and 

 herds of cattle, flocks of sheep and Angoras, and plenty 

 of fowls, turkeys, etc., be maintained to provide the 

 establishment with meat, milk, butter, and eggs 

 rendering it to a great extent self-supporting. The 

 young men could occupy themselves in superintending 

 the farming operations, and thus would not only have 

 plenty to do, but would at the same time be gaining 

 health. A good troop of horses would of course be kept, 

 so that patients might have as much riding and driving 

 as they wished ; there would be some shooting, as there 

 are partridges, several birds of the bustard tribe, and a 

 few antelopes ; and with a house whose interior pre- 

 sented the comforts of a refined home, with prettily- 

 furnished rooms, and with a good supply of books, 

 papers, and magazines, life in that bright, sunny land 

 might be made pleasant enough. The healthiness of 

 the country is greatly owing, not only to its dryness, 

 but also to the fact of its being a table-land, one thou- 

 sand feet above the sea ; thus the nights are always 

 cool, and one is generally glad of two blankets, even 

 in summer. 



Nor is consumption the only enemy who has to 

 retreat powerless before the Karroo's health-giving 

 atmosphere ; many other illnesses seem equally unable 



